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Cannonball

We booked a table at Cannonball over month in advance. I received a call the week before, advising us that we would be in the whisky bar instead of main restaurant but still with the a la carte menu. Whilst this wasn’t really a problem, it was odd – particularly as when we arrived we were the only ones in. Half an hour later a coach party arrived, so they can be forgiven – just. Cannonball is situated on Royal Mile and as a result, we had a nice view of Camera Obscura from our table and out the other side I could see a glimpse of the castle.

Cannonball

View from Cannonball

The menu is relatively short but varied enough. I ordered goose followed by wild mushroom spelt risotto. My dining companion for the evening ordered the soup bowl followed by fish and chips. Whilst we waited we were given lovely bread rolls with plenty of butter and then a amazing salmon and lemon curd amuse bouche. We both really enjoyed the salmon and I was really impressed at how the lemon curd worked. It’s a combination I would definitely try again.

Salmon – Cannonball

The starters looked lovely on arrival and presented on lovely crockery. My goose was rare (certainly not for those who don’t like their food to still be making animal noises) but delicious. A steak knife would have been handy though. I adored the pickled cranberries, which were vivid in colour and provided a sharpness against the meat. I was a bit surprised the sprouts were cold, although there was a salad-type element to the dish. The apple vinegar sauce was beautiful and pulled the elements together well. On the other side of the table, the soup was thick and creamy. It had a mint and hazlenut pesto swirled through it and my friend thought this was great. She was also appreciative of the placement of giant cheesy crouton on the side of the dish as it prevented it from becoming soggy. All in all a great course.

Goose – Cannonball

Soup Pot – Cannonball

I had been excited about the spelt risotto. Don’t have the spelt version of this dish very often so I grab the opportunity when I see it on the menu. However, I ended up being a bit disappointed. The dish wasn’t bad, just a little one dimensional. I am not sure if there was a lack of seasoning or the sweetness of the beetroot crisps that adorned the risotto that may be responsible for that. The mushrooms didn’t feel very prevalent in the dish either. The spelt popped though, which was delightful and the crispy egg was spot on. On the other side of table, fish and chips were good. They came with two small dishes – one of mushy peas and the other of a tartare sauce (neither of which my friend really touched so could not comment on them). However, the chips were nicely done and almost felt like proper chip shop chips. The fish itself was good and the batter not to thick. However, the batter was a touch greasy but not overwhelmingly so.

Spelt Risotto – Cannonball

Fish and Chips – Cannonball

So overall, the starters were definitely better than mains. The venue was nice and the staff were friendly and prompt.